Pouring spout



pi 25, i967 D. A. KERSH ET AL POURING SPOUT Filed Jan.

United States Patent O 9 Claims. (Cl. 229-7) This application is adivision of application Ser. No. 390,263, tiled Aug. 12, 1964, and nowPatent Number 3,262,627, entitled, Pouring Spout, which, in turn, is acontinuation of application Ser. No. 169,373, tiled Ian. 29, 1962, andnow abandoned, entitled, Pouring Spout.

This invention relates to pouring spouts for cartons and particularly to-a pouring spout which snaps outwardly to pouring position when aportion thereof is forced inwardly.

The carton having the pouring spout of the present invention may be madeof any material but is herein illustrated, by way of example, as beingmade from corrugated cardboard. The pouring spout is formed from thematerial of the carton at the time the sheet of material is die cut andscored to produce the carton. The spout is made by cutting the top edgethrough the material on adjacent faces of a corner edge above a pivotpoint in each face. The lower end of the spout is deformed by two pairsof score lines on the side faces, extending downwardly from the pivotpoints at an angle to each other. Another pair of score lines may extenddownwardly from the pivot point on the two adjacent faces between thepairs of score lines when it is desired that the pouring spout moveoutwardly at a greater angle to the carton edge. By pushing inwardly atthe corner edge of the carton Iat the point where the score lines definethe bottom edge of the pouring spout, the bottom edge will snap inwardlymoving the portion of the spout above the pivot points outwardly intopouring position. =By pushing the pouring portion of the spout upwardly,the lower portion below a line through the pivot points will moveoutwardly and move the lspout inwardly t-o closed position. Such a spoutmay be located anywhere along the corner edge of the carton and isusually placed near the top thereof.

The top portion of the spout may be disposed within the top surface ofthe carton at a corner thereof with the score line disposed therebelowalong the adjacent side faces of the carton. Preferably a fold isprovided inthe top cover portion of the spout, the fold hereinillustrated being a portion of a handle extending upwardly from the topwall. The fold within the top wall portion of the spout provides agreater capacity thereto and a smaller outlet pouring area so that thematerial, when poured, may be yaccurately directed into a container.

When the material of the carton is extremely heavy or when a large-sizedspout is desired, a second pair of score lines may be employed on theinner face of the material spaced from the score lines referred toabove. When the score line defining the bottom of the spout is pushedinwardly, the top lip portion will snap outwardly to open position, Whenthe score line spaced from the spout is pushed inwardly, the spout willmove outwardly a greater distance than when only one of the score linesis moved inwardly. In any of the arrangements, the spout may be said tobe of diamond shape, having a pair of opposite corners forming pivotpoints in adjacent faces of the container with the axis thereof forminga common base for the same or dissimilar triangular shaped cornerportions. The portion above the pivot points being defined by cut linesthrough the material to form the 3,3 15,866 Patented Apr. 25, 1967pouring edge while the material therebelow is secured to a flexibleportion produced by crushing, scoring or the provision of resilientmaterial so as to permit the lower portion of the spout to be movedinwardly.

Accordingly, the main objects of the invention are: to form a spout in acorner edge of a carton by severing the top edge of a diamond-shapedsection and connecting the lower portion to a flexible section so thatthe lower portion may be moved inwardly to move the upper portionoutwardly; to cut and score lines at the corner edge of a carton toprovide a diamond-shaped section with the top edge cut through thematerial and the bottom edge joined to a hingeable section which permitsthe bottom edge t-o be moved inwardly and the top edge to pivotoutwardly to open position; to form a pouring spout in the top corner ofa carton by cutting through the material of the top wall to define thelip edge and by scoring the walls at the corner edge therebelow topermit the corner portion to be moved inwardly so that the top portionmay hinge outwardly to form the spout, and in general, to provide apouring spout at the corner edge of the cart-on made from the materialthereof in a. manner which is simple in construction, positive inoperation and economical to manufacture.

Other objects and features of novelty of the invention will bespecifically pointed out or will become apparent when referring, for abetter understanding of the invention, to the following descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompaying drawing wherein:

FIGURE l is a broken plan view of a carton having a closed pouring spoutthereon embodying features of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIG- URE 1, with thespout in open position;

'FIGURE 3 is a view of structure, similar to that illustrated in FIGURE1, showing a further form of the invention with the spout in closedposition;

FIGURE 4 is a view of the structure illustrated in FIG- URE 3, with thespout in partially open. position;

FIGURE 5 is a 'View of a structure illustrated in FIG- URES 3 and 4 withthe spout in fully open position;

FIGURE 6 is a view of a spout, similar to that illustrated in FIGURE 3,showing a still further form of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a View -of the structure illustrated in FIG- URE 6, showingthe spout in open position; and

FIGURE 8 is a view of the structure similar to that illustrated inFIGURE 1, showing another form of the invention.

Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, a carton 10v of conventional form, made ofpaper or corrugated board, is provided with a pouring spout 11constructed in accordance with the present invention. The lip portion|12 of the pouring spout is formed from the corner portion of the top 13of the carton. An edge l14 of the lip portion is completely cut throughthe top material and also through the handle portion 15 provided on thetop portion. From the points 16 and v17 at the ends of the cut line 14,two angularly disposed pairs of score lines 18 and 19 are provided inthe sides 21 and 22 of the carton. These lines could be formed bycrushing the corrugated portion of the 'board or a score or cut line canbe made to produce the lines. In such an arrangement the line 19 wouldbe scored on the outer face of the sides 21 and 22 while the line 18would be scored on the inner side. By pressing inwardly at the point 23where the score line 18 meets at the corner edge 24, the portion of thecarton along the scored line 11S snaps inwardly causing the lip portion12 to snap outwardly pivoting about the points 16 and 17 to openpositionV as clearly illustrated in FIGURE 2.

The spout portion 25 is formed from the section of the handle 15 toprovide a narrow pouring channel at the center of the lip portion 12 sothat the substance being poured from the carton can be accuratelydirected into a small aperture or contained. By moving the pouring spoutportion 2S upwardly to cause it to pivot inwardly about the points 16and 17, the lip portion 12 will snap inwardly to the positionillustrated in FIGURE l as the score line 18 moves outwardly to be inthe plane of the sides 21 and 22.

A similar construction is illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7 wherein a cutline 27 extends between the points 16 and 17 in the sides 29 and 31 of acarton 30 to dene the lip portion of the pouring spout. Score lines 27yand 28 are provided in the panels in the same manner as provided in thepanel of FIGURE l below the lip portion 32 cut from the sides ratherthan the top wall 33. W-hen the corner edge 34 is pressed inwardly atthe point 23, the lip portion 32 will snap outwardly to open position asillustrated in FIGURE 7. By pus-hing the lip portion upwardly, thepouring spout will snap back to the closed position as illustrated inFIGURE 6.

In FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, a still further form of the invention isillustrated, that wherein a pouring spout 36 has an arcuate cut lipportion 37 with a score line 38 in addition to score lines 39 and 41which are similar to score lines 18 and 19 labove described. With thisarrangement, when pushing inwardly on the corner edge point 42, thepouring spout 36 will snap outwardly into partially open position asillustrated in FIGURE 4 and, when the point 43 of the corner edge ispushed inwardly thereafter or at the same time, the lip portion 36 willmove into fully open position substantially parallel to the top wall 33,as illustrated in FIGURE 5. When the pouring spout is in either Of thepositions illustrated in FIGURES 4 or 5, the movement of the lip portionupwardly will cause it to snap into closed position, as illustrated inFIGURE 1. To prevent t-he lip portion from passing beyond the plane ofthe sides 21 and 22 a strip of material 44 on the inner face of thesides 21 and 22 extends below the cut edge 37 in position to be engagedby the lip portion when moved to closed position. The strip may besecured in any Inanner to the sides and may be an extension of theoverlap portion of the container at a corner adjacent to the corner 24.

The closer the point 23 is to the line connecting the points 16 and 17,the greater will be the outward tilt to the pouring spout. When thepoint 42 of the structure illustrated in FIGURES 3 to 5 is pressedinwardly, the lip portion will only move out a short distance, but whenthe point 43 is pushed inwardly alone or with the point 42, the pouringspout will pivot out a substantial distance. The points 16 annd 17function as pivot points for the pouring spout. When the portion of thepouring spout below the line joining the points 16 and 17 is movedinwardly, the portion thereabove will move outwardly to open position.The further the bottom portion of the pouring spout is moved inwardly,the greater amount of angular movement will occur to the pouring spoutto move it to open position. It can be seen therefore that there 'are nospecific lengths to the various points on the spout since these can bevaried depending upon the amount of opening required of the pouringspout.

A relationship of the line lengths and angularity can be obtained fromexamining the figures, but these will be relative in view of the factthat the carton may be of any size. For example, the cartons of FIGURESl and 2 may be only 4 inches square, l2 inches square or a yard squareand the lengths of the lines cannot be set forth as being apredetermined length in inches. The relationship however is such thatpivoting will occur at the points 16 and 17 when the lower portion ofthe pouring spout is pushed inwardly at the point 23, the amount ofinward movement being limited by the angularity of the score line 19. Ashas been pointed out above, the score lines may merely be crushed or maybe actually scored, the line 19 being scored on the exterior face whilethe line 18 will be scored on the interior face. In the structureillustrated in FIGURES 3, 4 and 5, the score lines 38 and 39 will be cuton the inner face while the score line 41 is cut on the outer face. Inany of the constructions herein illustrated yand described, the lipportion of the pouring spout will snap open when the corner of thecontainer is pushed inwardly at the points 23, 42 and 43. While a cornerof a container is referred to herein it is to be understood that anarcuate portion of a round, oval or other shaped container would permitthe pouring spout to function in the manner above described.

In FIGURE 7, a pouring spout 36 is illustrated which is similar to thatillustrated in FIGURES l and 2 with the handle 15 omitted. Before thepoint 23 is pressed inwardly the spout portion 37 in the top 13 must besevered therefrom. A folded-over portion 38 of the spout portion 37 issevered along the tear line 39 and the side edge is severed along thetear line 41. The portion 38 is then moved to vertical position alongthe scored line 42. This releases the spout portion 37 from the top 13'and permits it to swing out about an axis through the points 16 and 17to open position as illustrated in FIGURE 2. The spout portion 37 ismoved to closed position in the manner described above and the portion38 is folded down and locked to the top material along the tear lines 39and 41 from which it must be released before it can be moved to openposition. An L-shaped strip of material 45 may be secured to the underface of the top 13 located at either side of the tear lines 39 and 41 toform a ledge for the edges of the spout portion 37 when in closedposition.

We claim:

1. In a container, a spout portion having a pair of spaced points whichforrn a pivotal axis across t-he interior of the container, the portionof the spout on one side of the axis being severed from the container,the portion of the spout on the other side of the axis being in hingedrelation with the container portion therebelow, said severed portion ofthe spout being cut from the top of the container to hinge upwardlytherefrom, said severed spout portion having a central reversely bentsection therein forming a pouring trough portion.

2. In a container, a spout portion having a pair of spaced points whichform a pivotal axis lacross the interior of the container, the portionof the spout on one side of the axis being severed from the container,the portion of the spout on the other side of the axis being in hingedrelation with the container portion therebelow, said severed portion ofthe spout being cut from the top of the container to hinge upwardlytherefrom, said severed spout portion having a central reversely bentsection therein forming a pouring trough portion, said container havinga reversely bent section forming a handle portion extending upwardlyfrom the top in extension of the reversely bent section of the spoutportion.

3. In a container, a spout portion having a pair of spaced points whichforni a pivotal axis across the interior of the container, the portionof the spout on one side of the axis being severed from the container,the portion of the spout on t-he other side of the axis beingV in hingedrelation with the container portion therebelow, said severed portion ofthe spout being cut from the top of the container to hinge upwardlytherefrom, said severed spout portion having a central reversely bentsection therein forming a pouring trough portion, said container havingla reversely bent section forming a handle portion extending upwardlyfrom the top in extension of the reversely bent section of the spoutportion, said reversely bent sections moving into interlocked relationwhen the spout portion is in closed position.

4. In a carton having a pair `of sides and a top wall, :the top wallhaving a cut line extending through the material at a corner to a pointin each side which forms a 4corner edge therebelow, and score lines inthe sides extending from the points to the corner edge permitting 5 thematerial at the corner edge to move inwardly to cause the top cornerportion to move outwardly.

5. In a carton having a pair of sides and top Wall, the top wall havinga cut line extending through the material at a corner to a point in eachside which forms a corner edge therebelow, and score lines in the sidesextending from the points to the corner edge permitting lthe material atthe corner edge t-o move inwardly to cause the top corner portion tomove outwardly, said corner portion having a fold therein to permit thetop corner portion to move outwardly a greater distance.

6. In a carton having a pair of sides and a top wall, the top wallhaving a cut line extending through the material at a corner to a pointin each side which forms a corner edge therebelow, and score lines inthe sides extending from the points to the corner edge permitting thematerial at the corner edge to move inwardly to cause the top cornerportion to move outwardly, said top corner portion having a fold thereinto permit the top corner portion to move outwardly a 4greater distance,said top portion having a handle and said fold being a portion inextension thereof.

7. In a carton having a pair of sides and a top wall, the top wallhaving a cut line extending through the material at a corner -to lapoint in each side which forms a corner edge therebelow, and score linesin the sides extending from the points to the corner edge permitting thematerial Iat the corner edge to move inwardly to cause the top cornerportion to move outwardly, said cut line and said score lines comprisinga pouring spout, said ftop corner portion having a fold therein topermit the top corner portion to move outwardly a greater distance, saidtop portion having a handle and said fold being a portion in extensionthereof, said fold being disposed at an angle to extend under and lockwith the handle to positively maintain the pouring spout in the plane ofthe top of the carton.

8. In a carton having a pair of sides and a top wall, the top wallhaving a cut line extending through the material at a corner to a pointin each side which forms a corner edge therebelow, and score lines inthe sides extending fr-om the points to the corner edge permitting thematerial at the corner edge to move inwardly to cause the top cornerportion to move outwardly, said top corner portion having a fold thereinto permit the top corner portion to move outwardly a. greater distance,when in open position and to lie at on the top of the carton when in`closed position.

9. In a carton having a pair of sides and a top wall, the top wallhaving a cut line extending through the material at a corner to a pointin each side which forms a corner edge therebelow, and score lines inthe sides extending from the points to the corner edge permitting thematerial at the corner edge to move inwardly to cause the top cornerportion to move outwardly, said top corner portion having a fold thereinto permit the top corner portion to move outwardly a greater distancewhen in open position and to lie flat on the top of the carton when inclosed position, the top corner portion having an opening, and meansextending into the edge of the opening to postion the corner portionwhen in closed position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,818,207 12/1957 Wilson 229-17 JOSEPH R. LECLA'IR, Primary Examiner. R. PESHOOK,Assistant Examiner.

1. IN A CONTAINER, A SPOUT PORTION HAVING A PAIR OF SPACED POINTS WHICHFORM A PIVOTAL AXIS ACROSS THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER, THE PORTION OFTHE SPOUT ON ONE SIDE OF THE AXIS BEING SEVERED FROM THE CONTAINER, THEPORTION OF THE SPOUT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE AXIS BEING IN HINGEDRELATION WITH THE CONTAINER PORTION THEREBELOW, SAID SEVERED PORTION OFTHE SPOUT BEING CUT FROM THE TOP OF THE CONTAINER TO HINGE UPWARDLYTHEREFROM, SAID SEVERED SPOUT PORTION HAVING A CENTRAL REVERSELY BENTSECTION THEREIN FORMING A POURING TROUGH PORTION.